Abbott Laboratories plans to cut 3,000 jobs, or about 3% of its workforce, following its purchase of Solvay’s pharmaceuticals business.
The company says restructuring will streamline its operations and improve efficiencies across the pharma business.
The company will cut these pharmaceutical jobs over the next two years and the vast majority will come from one-time Solvay positions, Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel reportedly said, according to a report filed by Reuters.
Abbott, which has about 93,000 employees, will also close the former United States headquarters of Solvay’s pharmaceuticals unit in Marietta, Ga., by the end of 2011. About 500 positions at a site in Weesp, the Netherlands, also will be eliminated, as will 300 jobs in Hanover, Germany.
The majority of the savings are targeted to be realised by 2012, Abbott said in a regulatory filing. About $475 million to $640 million of the expected charges should occur this year, including $430 million in the third quarter.
Abbott is taking the opportunity to cut costs in areas of overlap created by the Solvay purchase. Abbott executives previously signalled that the deal had the potential for cost savings, but hadn’t provided details. Under the restructuring plan, the layoffs will be spread across Abbott’s manufacturing, commercial, research-and-development operations, and staff functions at several sites around the world, reported The Wall Street Journal.
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